I don’t smoke and never smoked. However, I believe that taxes etc. is not the solution. It is just more bureaucracy and government in people’s lives. Mature people should be able to choose on their own what’s wrong and what is right. We can try to persuade them to do what is best but not force them. More taxes would create a bigger black market and smokers won’t stop. It is an addiction, period. The government can use methods such as graphic images and rehabilitation centers to rid them from their addiction voluntarily. I believe that graphical warnings would stop some people from smoking excessively as it reminds them every time of the danger. Reb Elya Desler ZT”L has a great explanation about the mind of a smoker when he takes a cigarette; it is basically that he forgets the danger at the time of the urge.
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